Initial endowment effects in Multi-Unit Vickrey auctions

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Price promotion of organic foods and consumer demand

Existing studies have examined the demand elasticities for organic products only in select categories, and their results for consumers' sensitivity to price changes are inconsistent. Evidence regarding the effects of price promotions on the demand for organic foods vs non-organic foods is scarce. This study aims to (1) examine the own-price elasticities of organic foods vs non-organic counterparts both with and without a promotion in a variety of product categories, and (2) investigate how the distinctive promotion effects between organic and non-organic counterparts depend on food category features. Using purchase data for 36 food categories from the 2015 Nielsen Consumer Panel, we find differential own-price elasticities for organic and non-organic foods, regardless of whether the product is purchased with a promotion. When the products are purchased with a promotion, we find stronger price promotion effects of organic virtues than non-organic virtues and weaker price promotion effects of organic vices than conventional vices. Price promotions of organic foods are more likely to induce health-conscious consumers to switch from conventional purchases to organic purchases in virtues

A theoretical and empirical investigation of nutritional label use

Due in part to increasing diet-related health problems caused, among others, by obesity, nutritional labelling has been considered important, mainly because it can provide consumers with information that can be used to make informed and healthier food choices. Several studies have focused on the empirical perspective of nutritional label use. None of these studies, however, have focused on developing a theoretical economic model that would adequately describe nutritional label use based on a utility theoretic framework. We attempt to fill this void by developing a simple theoretical model of nutritional label use, incorporating the time a consumer spends reading labels as part of the food choice process. The demand equations of the model are then empirically tested. Results suggest the significant role of several variables that flow directly from the model which, to our knowledge, have not been used in any previous empirical work

Assessing consumers’ willingness to pay for different units of organic milk: evidence from multi-unit auctions

Postprint (published version

Valutazione delle preferenze di consumatori campani per un sistema di etichettatura generico sulle \u201cfood miles\u201d

Our study is aimed at evaluating whether or not different food miles information displayed on labels such as information on the distance and time that the food traveled (nkm) and information on CO2 emission (CO2) during food transportation can affect consumer choice in the case of fresh tomato product. We also examined: (i) the level of sensitivity and knowledge of consumers with regard to the impacts of agro-food system in terms of environmental pollution; (ii) consumers \u2018perception of the effects produced by food transportation; (iii) the degree of importance that consumers attach to information directly or indirectly related to the sustainability of a food product. We conducted a quantitative survey in Naples (Italy) using a discrete choice approach. The data were analyzed using univariate analysis techniques (frequencies) and the estimation of the multinomial logit model (MNL). The results of the univariate analysis show that respondents actually perceive food products distribution as the phase that causes a high negative impact on the environment. The results of the MNL model suggest that on average consumers choices are affected by all the attributes of fresh tomato included in the experimental design. However. a comparison across different fresh tomato attributes suggests that respondents in our sample get the highest utility when nkm label is present, followed by the presence of other sustainability-linked attributes such as organic, CO2

Organic Consumers’ Valuation for Food Miles Labels: Do They Get More Utility from Food Miles Information than Organic Attribute Information?

Demand for organic food increased significantly in Europe in the last decades, while organic food production did not grow at the same rate. Thus, international food trade of organic produce and food products also significantly increased. Transportation of food products around the world has prompted environment protection activists as well as farmers interest groups to question the actual environmental and social sustainability of such environment-friendly products and the related consumer food choices and “green” consumers are taking an interest not just on how their food is produced but also on where it comes from. The concept of food miles has been recently used to simplify the environmental damage associated to food transportation, as related to energy use, carbon emissions, or other impact measures. Although questionable, the implementation of a labeling scheme on food miles might reflect consumers’ and producers’ growing interest on specific characteristics of food products. This labeling scheme may partly overlap and on some extent also interfere with the already established organic food labeling, as well as with the growing trend of local foods and commercial box schemes in terms of target segments and purchase motivations. A mix among environmental, ethnocentrism/localism, hedonism and quality related motivations have been reported as success factors for commercial box schemes initiatives. At the best of our knowledge, however, no other study jointly evaluated consumer preference and willingness to pay for organic and food miles attributes in food products in Europe. To fill this void, we designed a choice experiment (CE) to jointly assess consumer WTP for organic foods and two types of generic food miles labeling programs: one which would provide information about the distance and time the food traveled (nmiles) and one which would provide information on the amount of CO2 emission from transportation (CO2). We evaluate if consumers are willing to pay more or less for the organic attribute than food miles information expressed in terms of the number of miles and amount of time the food travelled or in terms of CO2 emission. Using fresh tomato as the product of interest, the other attributes included are price (1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 EUR) and type of tomato (cherry, plum and brief). The choice set was created using an orthogonal design for “main effects” to reduce the 72 (4x2x32) possible combinations of attributes and levels. From the orthogonal design, 32 pair-wise comparisons of alternative fresh tomato scenarios were obtained, which were then randomly grouped into pairs and split into four different blocks of 8 choice sets, erasing one card from each block due to repetition of some combinations. We conducted our CE study during spring 2009 in Naples, Italy, administering about 200 face to face interviews. Given the hypothetical nature of our CE investigation, we used a cheap talk script to reduce hypothetical bias. The data were analyzed using three different econometric models: multinomial logit (MNL), random parameter logit (RPL), and Error Component (EC). Our results generally suggest that consumers are willing to pay a price premium for both organic products and products with food miles label. These findings are robust across the MNL, RPL, and EC estimation results. We found that organic consumers’ WTP for the two food miles labels is higher than their WTP for the organic attribute. This finding suggests that organic consumers are also interested in knowing the environmental impact of these products in terms of food miles. This may have important implications for consumers, producers and policy makers

Acculturation in Food Choices among U.S. Immigrants

Immigration has made the U.S. more racially and ethnically diverse. With this diversity comes heterogeneity in dietary behaviors and health disparities. We used the food and nutrient database from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and estimated econometric models explaining the daily consumption of milk, meat, processed meat, fruits, and vegetables among immigrants and people born in the U.S. Tests for differences in consumption between immigrants with different race and ethnicity and their U.S. born counterparts were performed. In addition, we simulated the effects of time of residency on food consumption among the different immigrant groups. The results show that immigrants tend to have lower consumption of meat but higher consumption of fruits and vegetables than their U.S. born counterparts, but the differences begin to disappear after being in the U.S. for five years. The findings may help policymakers to craft food assistance programs aimed at reducing obesity and related health problems among different racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. Acknowledgement : The findings and conclusions in this presentation are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Research Council of Norway (BION R), Grant no 233800 provided financial support for this research